What Sam did next
by Sapphire1112
Summary: Set at the end if 'Somewhere between silences part 2' I do not own the characters. Strachamp.
1. Chapter 1

_Screw him!_

Connie thought bitterly, as she scrunched up the piece off paper she's been doodling on and threw it at the already over-flowing bin. She _could_ have left an hour ago – but what was the point when she was going back to an empty house, while _he_ enjoyed the company of their daughter?

 _Screw Sam Strachan – and screw his idea of being a family._

The smirk that had momentarily appeared on his face when Grace turned down the offer to move back in with her mum, had not been unexpected but it still hurt more than Connie cared to admit. Only _he_ could do that to her – make her love him and long for him when she openly _hated_ his guts. Well, she damn well wasn't going to _admit_ she loved him now.

The smirk also confirmed to her, that no matter how much he'd _insisted_ he wanted the three of them to be a family that morning, he was _really_ only interested in pulling Grace away from her again.

She had been sceptical this morning – _now_ she was sure.

Sam had always made it clear that he believed he was the better parent – and he was in many ways, but Connie _wanted_ to be better – more than anything – for Grace. Sam didn't think she was a fit mother and he was _convinced_ that Connie should be cut out of their otherwise life.

Connie, after all, had been the _one_ who drove their daughter over a cliff into a ravine. She didn't think the part where she was driven off the road mattered to Sam. As far as he was concerned Connie was the _driver_ and therefore, it was _her_ fault.

He would never understand the _guilt_ she felt about the whole thing – how she's do _anything_ to go back and change something - anything that could have _stopped_ the accident from happening. How she would have _insisted_ that they took Grace in the road ambulance instead of her after the initial accident. Then the helicopter crash – which had made Grace's injuries worse, wouldn't have happened either. Connie was pretty _sure_ by now that the only reason Sam hadn't taken Grace away yet was because she hadn't been well enough.

Now that she was better, pretending he _wanted_ to be a family was his way of trying to sabotage Connie's relationship with their daughter – because she'd managed to persuade Grace that she _did_ love her.

When Scott Ellison died and Connie was forced to remain on at work to deal with the consequences, Sam had succeeded – and his smug response had made her want to slap him again. Only their daughter's presence had stopped her from doing so.

The trouble was – Connie thought, whenever she slapped him, she always ended up kissing him afterwards. It was like an _infuriating_ pattern that she was unable to avoid. She didn't know whether she was afraid shed hurt him or something else. It couldn't possibly be the _former_ , couldn't it? – Connie Beauchamp doesn't do _'afraid'_. All she knew was that it was like a magnet pulling her lips to his in such situations. _One_ moment of weakness – and one that _he_ was unable to resist exploiting.

She'd stay here _permanently_ if she had to, Connie decided - in her office. If it avoided being in the house where Grace wasn't there, it was a _good_ plan. Another rejection was hard enough to handle – and the reminder would be unwelcome, but Sam winning 'bragging rights' to their daughters affections _again_ was like being stabbed. _Again_.

Connie started doodling on another piece of paper in her notebook. The doodling was a very _'un-Beauchamp'_ thing to do and was something she _only_ indulged in out-of-hours, behind closed doors.

There was only a _brief_ smirk on his face, she thought suddenly. It was definite smug satisfaction on his part that their daughter had 'chosen' him, but it was _only_ brief – almost as though it was _automatic_ and he couldn't help it.

 _Damn – I'm actually making excuses for the prick now._ Connie thought throwing her pen down and running her hands through her hair.

But it _was_ brief – and it disappeared _as soon as_ he realised how upset she was. He had _even_ squeezed her shoulder – offering her comfort and thereby proving that he _could_ exercise humanity towards her.

Connie sighed and picked up her pen again.

 _Then where the bloody hell was he?_ They hadn't told her where they were going – _or_ offered her the chance to meet them when she'd finished work.

She _hadn't_ been invited – because her presence wasn't _really_ wanted and _she_ had to deal with that, no matter how much it hurt. She stared miserably at the page, not wanting to go home nor wanting to text Sam or Grace.

She wouldn't impede on their Father-Daughter time. She _knew_ when she wasn't wanted.

Her phone beeped.

'Message from Sam' the screen read and Connie's heart _leapt_ before she could stop it. He _was_ thinking of her – unless it was a message to keep her away from them, but then she didn't think that even he'd be _that_ cruel.

 _'Finished work yet, Con? Gracie never stopped talking about you at bowling.'_ It said. _'Back at my flat. We decided to order a pizza and watch a film if you want to join us? We'd love to have you here. Xx'_

 _'Ok. See you in a few minutes.'_ Connie responded, grabbing her coat.

 _We'd_ love to have you here. Not she'd. _We'd_. Maybe he _did_ care – maybe just a _bit_?

He looked surprisingly _pleased_ to see her when he opened the door – though not as pleased as Grace, who bounced past him, shoving him out the way and squealing. " _Mummy – you came!_ "

"Hi sweetheart." Connie responded hugging her daughter.

"Daddy's ordered the pizza – should be here soon." She giggled excitedly – for this was _all_ she wanted. _Her Mum, her Dad – and family time._

"Come on Gracie – let your Mum _through the door!_ " Sam exclaimed. " _Wow_ – you've never called me _sweetheart_ before!" He added in a whisper as Grace bounded into the other room. His comment was followed by a snigger because Connie _immediately_ looked as if she wanted to slap him.

She did indeed _want_ to slap him – but she also knew it was the reaction he was _expecting_. It had been the _only_ reason he'd said it – and she certainly wasn't going to allow him him the satisfaction on this occasion.

"Shall we go in Mr Strachan?" She retorted in an _unaffected_ tone - giving him a playful shove. "What film are we watching then?"

He _lo_ _o_ _ked_ taken aback – if a little disappointed, which gave _Connie_ the opportunity to feel a bit smug for once.

Once they were in the living room Grace announced that they were watching _'The lord of the Rings'._

" _Which one?_ " Was Sam's question.

"The _first_ one, Daddy." Grace answered. " _Obviously_!" She added indignantly.

" _Ask a stupid question!_ " He muttered.

"Well. it _was_ kind of stupid!" Connie chuckled.

"I didn't invite you over here to _insult_ me." Sam protested.

"Oh, _you_ invited me?" She retorted – putting on her best 'You _totally_ fancy me' look.

Grace giggled. "We _both_ wanted you here, Mummy. Daddy _just_ as much as me - I just told him _he_ had to ask you."

Their daughter was obviously in a 'match-making' mood!

" _Anyway_ ," Connie continued. "I insult you _all the time_ Sam – and you _usually_ like it!"

Sam went red to that - which delighted her no end. He then tried to _imitate_ her slightly to cover his embarrassment. " _Anyway_... _why_ is it obvious, Gracie?"

Connie chuckled as Grace responded. " _Because_ Daddy, you _always_ start with the first one!"

"Does that mean we have to work our way through all _three_ of them tonight?" he remarked.

Connie snorted. "I shouldn't think so, Sam – the whole triology is _nine_ hours long!"

He cleared his throat. "Can I um...get you _something_ to drink? - _Wine_ or something?"

" _Wine_ would be lovely, Thank you." She agreed – slightly _amused_ by his sudden attempt at chivalry.

Just as Sam sat down again after providing Connie and himself with some wine – and their daughter with some orange juice, the doorbell rang.

" _Pizza_!" Grace yelled. "Daddy can you get that, please? _I_ want to talk to Mummy."

So having _just_ sat down – he had to get up again.

The pizza was very filling and after Connie had drained her glass, Sam offered her more wine – but she declined, pointing out that she had to drive back later.

"You could always _stay_ , Mummy. I'm sure Daddy would let you have his bed while he slept on the floor." Grace suggested. "... _If_ you didn't want to _share_..."

" _Grace!_ " Sam exclaimed, shocked at their daughter's comment. "It's got _nothing_ to do with me." He added defensively as Connie eyed him suspiciously.

"Hmm." Connie couldn't decide whether he had been putting ideas into their daughter's head or not.

 _Time would tell if he want_ _innocent of that particular misdeed._

"So..." Grace remarked, turning the sound of the film down so she could grill her _unsuspecting_ parents. "I'm not trying to make you feel _awkward_..."

 _If she was anything like her mother – and she was_ , Sam thought, _then making them feel awkward was exactly what she intended!_ He held his breath. Connie was as good at _dealing_ with awkward questions as she was at _asking_ them – he wasn't.

" _Was I just a one night stand?"_

Sam nearly _choked_ on his wine – _Connie_ on the other hand was perfectly calm and responded to their daughter's blunt question with ease – as though it was _completely_ expected.

"No sweetie." She answered their daughter. "Your Dad and I were together for a number of months before you were born." _A little vague,_ Connie decided, but that _all_ Grace needed to know. " _Easy!_ " She added rubbing Sam's back as he leaned forward still coughing and trying to catch his breath after the shock of the blunt question. "Gracie, go and get your Dad some water please."

" _Sure._ " She giggled, leaving for the kitchen – happy with the reaction she'd caused.

Sam leaned back – trying to cover his _obvious_ delight when he realised that Connie's hand was still on his back.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Better?"

"Mm-hm." He agreed. He was _more_ than a little bit surprised by her unusual concern. "So you _do_ care then?"

"Of course I _care_ , Sam!" She responded. "It's just more _fun_ to pretend I don't...Come on – admit it, _you_ get a kick out of doing that as well!" She added with a smirk when he just stared at her. "And you know something else? Grace was _delighted_ with the impact her question had. If you react like _that_ , she's just going to do it all the more." She pointed out, removing her hand from his back. To be honest, she'd momentarily _forgotten_ it was there.

"I didn't do it on _purpose_ , Con." He protested. "The question was a shock – _to me_!" He added in a slightly accusing tone. " _You_ seemed perfectly comfortable with it!"

Connie shrugged. "Grace has never known us be together – she was _bound_ to ask something like eventually. I wasn't expecting something quite so _blunt_ – but that was purely to see what _reaction_ she would get!"

" _And that's it?_ "

"Well what _else_ were you expecting, Sam?" She commented.

"You were alone with her when I went to get the pizza. She said she wanted to _talk_ to you..." He trailed off.

"Ah – so you think that we were _plotting_ against you. Glad to see my reputation is still intact!" Connie chuckled. "No, Sam – I had _no_ _idea_ she was going to ask that. We didn't do much _talking_ actually. She just gave me a hug – sorry to disappoint you!"

Grace finally reappeared at this point. In truth, she _had_ hurried back with the water, but when she heard that her Dad seemed to be over his coughing fit, she had chosen to wait outside the room to give them time to _discuss_ her question.

She had predicted that her Dad would be _un-nerved_ by it, whilst her Mum – the _unflappable_ Connie Beauchamp, would not be fazed in the slightest. She had been _right_.

Deciding that her parents had now had _ample_ time to recover from the question, she returned and handed Sam the glass of water. "Here you go, Daddy."

"Thanks sweetie." He muttered, taking it from her.

 _But Grace wasn't finished yet._


	2. Chapter 2

_No_. Grace _definitely_ wasn't finished.

As soon as her bottom hit the sofa she asked. "Were you happy?"

Poor Sam nearly choked on his _water_ this time – for he had _thought_ they were out of the danger zone with the conversation about the status of his and Connie's relationship.

The latter gave an exasperated sigh – clearly _aimed_ at Sam's current inability to cope with liquids - and she rubbed his back again. "Gracie, you're going to _kill_ your Dad if you keep this up!" Connie exclaimed shaking her head at him. She was somewhat irritated that she was having to show her 'softer' side to Sam but despite the _'I don't give a toffee'_ game they both liked to play, she was a doctor first.

"Good thing there's another _doctor_ in here then, isn't it Mummy!" Grace retorted with a giggle.

"Yes." Connie agreed. "But I would rather he didn't need _resuscitating_ sweetheart!" She cleared her throat. "To answer your question – Yes, we were happy – _most of the time_. Now in order to prevent _further_ injury to your poor father, do you have any _other_ questions, madam?" She asked – removing Sam's drink from his hand.

" _Wha_ -?" He stammered, looking distraught.

"Your obviously not _safe_ drinking liquids whilst this conversation is in progress – so it's _nil-by-mouth_ until it's over!" Connie commented with a smirk. She turned back to their daughter. "Well?"

"Let me just _think_..." Grace answered grinning wickedly.

" _Grace!_ " Sam groaned, agitated to be parted from his drink – and knowing that with it currently in _Connie's_ possession, he definitely _wouldn't_ get it back until Grace had finished.

Their daughter sniggered but after a pause, she continued her interrogation. "I know your both really, really, _really_ competitive – I mean _ridiculously_ competitive at times, but if you were happy, why aren't you together _now_?"

This, of course, was _the_ question they both knew would come at some point – and it was the _one_ they were both dreading. _Especially_ after last week in the storeroom – not that their daughter knew anything about that – or _was ever going to_.

 _How the hell could they answer this one when neither of them knew the answer?_

Sam would have been _happy_ to let the ball roll into Connie's court again - and _she_ wanted it to roll back to him for once, so instead the room filled with an uncomfortable silence – which Grace broke for them. "I think you're both _scared_."

"I don't think your _Mum's_ scared of anything!" Sam chuckled – relieved that Grace had opened a door for him to escape through.

Connie gave him a smile – a nice smile, as opposed to the usual smirk they both reserved for each other. "Is that you admitting you _are_ scared?" She chuckled back – equally grateful to be past the awkwardness of a question she couldn't answer.

" _Maybe..._ " He answered with a sheepish grin.

Grace clapped her hands together. " _Way too go Dad!_ Mummy, give him his drink back. I've finished for now."

Connie rolled her eyes at Sam, who was _none to pleased_ to hear they might be subjected to 'part two' of Grace's hot seat later on. He was, however, pleased to get his drink back and Connie burst out laughing at the ecstatic look on his face when she reunited him with his glass of water. "Blimey, Sam! Anyone would think you'd just _won the lottery!_ It's just a glass of water!"

He hurriedly gulped down some of the liquid. "I was thirsty!" He declared. " _Never_ underestimate the taste of water when you're thirsty!

The three of them watched the film for a bit, but presently, Grace decided that enough time had passed and it was safe to leave her Mum and Dad alone, so she announced that she was going to get ready for bed before watching the remainder of the film. The film – which was not quite half way through, was paused while she was out of the room, leaving her parents with two choices – _talk or sit in silence._

"So I take it you went home before coming here?" Sam commented.

Connie looked surprised. "Yes. How-?"

"You came on your bike." He pointed out – explaining how he knew. "You had your _car_ at work."

"Oh." She nodded. "Yes, I went home, dropped my car off and picked up my bike. Your car's out there, so I thought there'd be more room." She shrugged. " _Why_ – is there a problem?"

He shook his head. "No – no problem." He suddenly gave a loud yawn.

"Oh I _am_ sorry! I've been working working you _too_ hard.!" Connie chuckled, _jumping_ at the chance to highlight the fact that she was his _boss_. It was something she liked to _constantly_ remind him of – and something _he_ had taken great delight in doing when he was her boss.

In actual fact, Connie hadn't _minded_ him being her boss. She'd found it quite refreshing for a change but it was a fact she was _never_ going to admit to. She was _his_ boss again now – and that's the way it should be. It was not something she was going to let him forget.

Sam shook his head. "No, it's just _exhausting_ being grilled like that!" He answered, flicking his head at the door Grace had gone through a few minutes earlier. "And that's not even mentioning her little _stunt_ earlier!"

"Yes." Connie agree. "Although I think earlier was more a case of _Noel_ leading her astray! She was doing what _he_ told her to do – it wouldn't have occurred to her that David might be _upset_...Anyway..." Connie added. "You've got to admit that it's nice to see Grace getting back to her old self – she's had _one hell_ of a year."

Sam nodded. " _So have you._ " He muttered to Connie astonishment. He looked up to find her staring at him. " _You_ were in the accident as well."

Connie had no idea what to say to his unexpected sentiment, but luckily for her, Grace chose this moment to return – complete with a spare blanket she'd found in her Dad's airing cupboard.

" _Where did you get that?_ " He spluttered – the almost tender moment lost. He clearly had no recollection of seeing the object before.

"It was in the cupboard, Daddy." Grace explained brightly.

"Well, I've _never_..." He trailed off into baffled silence.

"It's definitely _yours_ , Sam." Connie remarked – _highly_ amused that she apparently knew more than him. "I saw your mother with it."

" _My mother?!_ " Sam almost roared in disbelief.

Connie and Grace found themselves unable to stop the fits of laughter that overtook them. The look on Sam's face at the idea of Connie and his mother in the same room was one of utter horror. The two women in his eyes were both absolute _powerhouses_. Each, on their own, was a _force_ to be reckoned with and the two of them together was a very _intimidating_ thought – especially as neither had ever been shy at voicing their dislike for each other. Now they seemed to be about to gang up on him.

"Don't worry, Sam!" Connie eventually exclaimed wiping the tears from her eyes. "That will never happen! I've simply seen her with that blanket in her possession...How is your mother?" She added, deciding that inquiring after the other woman's well-being was the right thing to do in front of Grace.

"No idea." He shrugged – seemingly keen to move away the topic involving his mum.

"Daddy and Grandma are not talking." Unlike her father, Grace was more than happy to broadcast the subject.

"Oh?" Connie immediately wanted to know why.

"I don't want to talk about it." He grumbled crossly. "Can we just put the film back on?"

Seeing that it was obviously a sore subject, Connie diplomatically agreed, but she watched him in interest for a bit – rather than the film. Sam had always seemed to her, rather obedident in his mother's presence. She was quite a controlling woman, which of course was never going to go down well with Connie – but Sam who usually did exactly as he wanted, had the greatest respect for Audrey Strachan – as all children should for their parents.

If Sam and Audrey had fallen out, Connie wanted to know why.

She would butter him, she decided, - and then he might reveal what she wanted to know. It wouldn't take to much – the idea of perhaps being a little closer to him was quite wellcoming in this setting. It was only her pride that was stopping her – and the fear that the only thing he was really interested in was keeping his daughter close. It would hurt if her fears were correct – and as she so far remained unconvinced that he wanted her here, she suspected that she would get hurt.

She would use him just as he was using her. It was no more – or less than he would do in the same situation – and he had done on multiple occassions.


End file.
